ITCHING for a women's footy fix?
While the NAB AFLW season is expected to once again kick off in August, state leagues around the country are well and truly into pre-season training.
The SANFLW has traditionally run in the first half of the year, and in 2023 will begin on the weekend of February 17-19, with the Grand Final to be played in June.
New AFLW club Port Adelaide has confirmed the vast majority of its players will compete at various stages of the season, with previously unaligned players allocated a club based on a variety of factors including competitive balance.
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The VFLW season will start on the weekend of March 25-26, having moved slightly later in the year in order to better align to the run-in to the AFLW season.
All Victorian-based AFLW clubs have a presence in the competition (whether that's a direct team or an alliance with a standalone club), and there may be an overlap with the start of the VFLW season and the yet-to-be-finalised AFLW sign and trade period.
Clubs can field AFLW-listed players from round one of the VFLW season, with Geelong one club that has a number of young and inexperienced players – including Kalani Scoullar and Mel Bragg – currently taking part in some VFLW training sessions.
The Grand Final will be on July 30.
Women in Queensland will have to wait a little longer for their season, with the QAFLW due to commence on April 15, with the decider at the end of August.
Gold Coast and Brisbane players are usually recruited directly from QAFLW clubs, and in the past have returned to them to play a handful of games depending on their personal circumstances (e.g. injury, work commitments, level of experience).
The WAFLW season will begin on March 11, with East Perth joining the competition for the first time.
It will be a 16-round season, with the Grand Final to be held on July 15-16.
AFL Sydney and AFL Canberra are yet to announce their season dates, but last year kicked off on the first weekend in April.
The NTFLW season – which runs over summer – is into the final month of its home and away season, with PINT, Waratah, Nightcliff and Darwin currently in the top four.
